Clothes-supporter.



PATENTE-D NOV. 19, 1907.

A. J. OAVANA. CLOTHES SUPPORTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEOJZ, 1906.

Alum J Caz/ma,

A TTOR/VEYS ALVIN J. CAVANA, O1" ELDORA, IOWA.

CLOTHES-SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

Application filed December 12,1906- Serial No. 347.490.

.7 '0 all, whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN J. CAVANA, a

citizen of the United States, residing at sition and to fold the same into compact form without creasing them when in contract-ed position. 1

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invent1on resides in the combi-' nation and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Figure 1 1s a sectional elevation of a clothes supporterconstructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The clothes supporter may be mounted on the wall of the room, or a portion of a closet or door, or any other suitable upright structure.

The sets of lazy tongs 3 are connected to each other by an upper set of cross bars 5 and a lower set of cross bars 7, which are all parallel with each other, as shown. The outer cross bar 7 of the lower set preferably is rovided with a handle 8 by means of which the lazy tongs may be drawn outward into extended position or pushed inward to closed position. The means for suspending garments or other articles from the lower set of cross bars 7 preferably consists of a plurality of clothes hooks or similar devices 9 which are preferably staggered with relation 'to each other.

it is obvious that when the lazy tongs are drawn into extended position a large number of garments can be easily hung upon the' lower cross bar 7 and can afterwards be folded into compact condition by pushing the lazy tongs to closed or folded position.

' The support for the lazy tongs comprises, in the present instance, a pair of vertical side members 11 connected at their upper ends by the top member 12 which cooperates with the cross pieces 13 to hold the side members 11 at fixed spaces apart. The support is secured to the wall in any suitable manner, and the front thereof is 0 en to ermit the clothes su orter to be fo ded an unfolded.

e cross bar 5? connecting the up er inner ends ofthe lazy tongs is pivota ly attached to the ends of the respective arms 3 and extends horizontally across and connects the vertical guides 16, bolt-s or screws 19 extending through the guides and the crossbar and serving to ri idly secure the latter in fixed relation to the guides, while the inner cross bar 7 at the lower edge of the lazy tongs has asliding engagement with the lower portion of the guides it extending transversely across and connecting the guides to prevent distortion or lateral movement of the lazy tongs in a horizontal plane.

Extending between the upper and lower sets of cross bars is a shelf 15. This shelf is supported in any suitable manner as by being secured to the guides 16, and the ends extend short of the side members 11, so as to permit the two sets of lazy tongs 3 to freely move in and out of the ocket formed between the ends of the Sheff and the adjacent side members 11. The shelf is located at a height about midway between the upper and lower cross bars when the clothes supporter is in folded position, as indicated by dotted lines. The inner one of the lower set of cross bars is ada ted to ride up and down on the vertical gui cs 16, of which only one is shown, and by means of the said cross bar abutting the underside of the shelf, the unfolding or outward movement of the clothes supporter is limited. The shelf, therefore, has the two fold function of supporting various articles in the usual manner and of limit ing the outward movement of the clothes supporter, and in this last respect it operates as a sto In ordbr to exclude dust from the clothing, each side member 11 of the support is provided with a suitable piece of drapery 17, thereby forming side-closures, and the front of the clothes supporter carries apiece of suitable cloth or drapery 18 that extends the full width of the clothes sup orter and bracket 1, so that its vertical e ges will cooperate with the side members 11 and pieces 17 to close the front of the device, the front and side pieces 17 and 18 being sufficiently long to touch the floor so that dust cannot enter underneath them. It will thus be seen that a complete dust excluding inclosure or housing is provided.

The improved clothes supporter of-this invention is strong, simple, durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as thoroughly efficient in operation.

What is claimed is 1. In a clothes supporter, the combination v with a suitable support, and a pair of honizontally spaced vertically extending guides arranged in fixed relation thereon, of a pair of lazy tongs having their arms arranged in parallel vertical planes and pivotally attached at their upper inner ends to a relatively fixed portion of the support, the lower inner ends of the lazy tongs being provided with a cross bar which extends transversely thereof and has a sliding engagement with the forward surfaces of the vertical guides,

and means forl-imiting the extension movement of the lazy tongs embodying a shelf rigidly attached to the support at :a point substantially midway of the length of the guides and arranged to cooperate with the upper side of the cross barwhieh connects the lower inner ends of the lazy tongs, the

shelf being maintained at a fixed distance below the tops of the lazy tongs.

I 2. In a clothes supporter, the combination with a suitable support, and a pair of parallel vertically extending guides fixed thereon, of a pair of lazy tongs arranged in )arallel vertical planes mounted to move orizontally relatively to the guid es, a cross bar pivotally connecting the upper inner end of the lazy tongs, bolts extending throu h the guides and cooperating with the sai. cross bar to provide a relatively fixed axis for the upper Inner ends of the lazy tongs, a second cross bar connecting the lower inner ends of the lazy tongs and extending transversely across and connecting the vertical guides, the lower cross bar having a sliding engagement with the said guides, and means-for limiting the extension movement of the lazy tongs embodying a shelf fixed between the vertical guides and extendin at right angles thereto at a point midway etween the upper and lower cross bars when the lazy tongs are in folded position, the shelf being arranged at a fixed distance from the plane of the tops of the lazy tongs and at a variable distance from the plane of the bottoms thereof.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ALVIN J. CAVANA. Witnesses:

'S. D. Moses, 7 FRED W. HORTON. 

